National
Poetry
Competition
2023
A much-travelled poem.
There’s a knock at the door. There stands a muchtravelled poem. Where has it been? It could be different
parts of the world (doing a jig on the Spanish Steps in
Rome; sitting on the dock of a bay on a far coast). It
could also have been to parts of your life that you’ve
forgotten about or never properly knew. You could mix
destinations and your personal life, or perhaps write
about them separately, in a two-poem sequence.
Michael W. Thomas, Longlisted 2022
Write from a little-known local myth
There are stories all around us: half-truths, folk tales, urban
myth. Stories that belong not to a singular person, but to
a place – and which can provide rich fodder for poetry.
Explore a myth local to you, and use it as the clay from
which to shape your poem. You could modernise the story.
You could tell it from a different perspective, or write it as
though it happened to you. You could change the ending.
Work out what this place-story means to you, and write it.
Katie Hale, Longlisted 2022
Write a dream poem.
To me, some of the most powerful and emotive imagery
can be drawn from our dreams. Try writing a poem
about a recent dream, whether an exciting or terrifying
one, whether one with a clear narrative or one you didn’t
understand, and focus on sensory language. When we
think of dreams in terms of senses, they can become
worlds of their own.
Charlotte Marsh, Longlisted 2022
Write from an opposite’s mouth.
Choose an interesting figure from history and research into
their lives. Unearth facts about the people close to them:
spouses, lovers, family, friends, contemporaries, enemies
etc. Imagine (for example) a dog, flower, bird or tree that
might have been close by. How did it feel for them to
witness the interesting figure’s epiphanies, inventions, and
experiences? Did they love or hate the figure? Write a poem
from the point of view of someone who stood ‘outside’
of your chosen figure’s greatness/devastation/celebration.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be praise!
Jane Burn, Longlisted 2022 & 2018
Write a poem about being planted.
You can’t move but you can grow. Spread your leaves to
the sun. Bloom. Feel your roots stretching out, exploring
the earth, working through cracks in concrete, wrapping
around wires and water mains and caskets of longforgotten treasure.
Mark Farley, Longlisted 2022
Recall an event that you witnessed.
Where were you exactly? What was the first moment of the
event that you recall seeing. What was your first thought
at the time? What happened next? Second thought?
How does the event conclude with your third thought?
Paul McMahon, Longlisted 2022
Judges: Clare Pollard, Will Harris and Jane Draycott
First prize: £5,000
Deadline: 31st October 2023
poetrysociety.org.uk/npc
© 2023 The Poetry Society & the author/s
poetrysociety.org.uk